Yup, finally had to build myself a TARDIS

[NotaMountainGoat]

Hey everyone, I'm David from Sacramento, and just thought I'd share some pics of my TARDIS build. I actually started this in October, and kept meaning to start a diary here, but frankly was so busy building the dang thing I just never found the time until now.  

Like a lot of people here, I had zero woodworking experience (my main thing was either sculpting with clay or building/scratchbuilding plastic models). But now that I've recently bought a house with a fairly big garage to work in, I suddenly felt like doing something a bit bigger and more ambitious. And it's hard to think of anything more ambitious than a full size TARDIS. With all the junk in my garage already making it somewhat resemble the junkyard in Unearthly Child, I just thought it'd be cool to have a TARDIS sitting in the corner as well (although my friends and family would probably beg to differ. Lol).

As for which one to build, I decided to go with the original Hartnell TARDIS (or at least a version of it). Mainly because it looks a bit like the Smith box, but is a slightly more manageable size. And plus I like the narrower shape and the more weathered and beat up look of the thing. I didn't want to go as far as slathering on a bunch of goopy "concrete" texture, but still wanted to try to approximate that basic look.

After the requisite research, and with TONS of help from the great tips, PDFs, and instructions found on this site, I got to work. I won't bore you with every little step along the way (since you're all familiar with them), but will just speed through the highlights.  
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I started with a couple posts, using that layered approach that works really well:



Then I started putting together one of the walls.



I then proceeded to making the base. I know it's been said before, but it really hits hard how freakin HUGE this box is once you've laid the base down. It didn't help that I was trying to make the slightly wider and flatter Hartnell base. Ultimately, I probably went a little TOO wide, but oh well, I still think it works well in the end (and once it's painted dark blue it won't stand out much anyway).




All the pieces I had so far. Sadly, this was the point where I was like, "Holy crap, I've already spent like $400 on tools and wood for this thing, and I've barely even gotten started!!" I'm glad I stuck it through, but I was definitely having second thoughts there for a few days.



And a test fit with two walls and three posts:

[DoctorWho8]

Looking good, sir!
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[kert gantry]

Great start to your build. The base looks fine from here.  

Always glad to see another Brachacki taking shape. More please!

[NotaMountainGoat]

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

[NotaMountainGoat]

A few more pics:

Attaching the doors. This was a massive pain to get right, especially when you factor in how much thicker and heavier the doors were than the walls. I understood how to do it in theory, but getting everything to line up properly, and leaving just enough space on the bottom so the doors could open freely (without also having an unsightly gap down there), took freakin forever to get right.



I also wanted to have the thicker Hartnell door lock on there. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a piece of metal or metal pipe of the right size (and don't have access to a lathe to cut one), so just had to settle for painted plastic. But hopefully once it's darkened and weathered a bit, it'll look somewhat metal-ly enough. Lol. Or maybe I might try wrapping it with some shiny aluminum tape or something...



Next up were the steps, which were just made from a bunch of poplar strips glued together.




And... here's my cat giving an inspection, and wondering just what the hell I'm doing.  

[aussierob]

A few more pics:

Attaching the doors. This was a massive pain to get right, especially when you factor in how much thicker and heavier the doors were than the walls. I understood how to do it in theory, but getting everything to line up properly, and leaving just enough space on the bottom so the doors could open freely (without also having an unsightly gap down there), took freakin forever to figure out.




I also wanted to have the thicker Hartnell door lock on there. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a piece of metal or metal pipe of the right size (and don't have access to a lathe to cut one), so just had to settle for painted plastic. But hopefully once it's darkened and weathered a bit, it'll look somewhat metal-ly enough. Lol. Or maybe I might try wrapping it with some shiny metal tape or something...



Next up were the steps, which were just made from a bunch of poplar strips glued together.




And... here's my cats giving an inspection, and wondering just what the hell I'm doing. 

This looks good I hope that it gets easier for you as so far it loks like it's worth it.

[Volpone]

Wow, you're going hardcore accurate. Will you be doing the serif'ed phone door sign and the small basic Maltese cross instead of the SJA badge? 

[DoctorWho8]

The thing you may want to address at this stage is that the center dividers are thick on the Hartnell.  On the left and right sides, they actually go up to the top horizontal style under the sign boxes.  The front and backs (which were doors too) didn't go all the way up, but they were the same thickness.




Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[kert gantry]

TARDISes and cats. Two things that can hugely brighten up my day!

Build looking great - esp. the chunky lock.

[NotaMountainGoat]

aussierob-- Thanks. I know it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, but this has still been an absolute blast to make. I'm just trying to convey what a challenge it's been at times as well.  

volpone-- I don't know if I'm going that hardcore with it. There are just certain elements, like the chunky lock, that I happen to really like. If I were to pin it down, I'd say I'm trying to go for a slightly more weathered and beat up version of the wooden Pilot TARDIS. As for the door sign, I just used the PDF that's on this site, which looked like a pretty good match with a screengrab to me. Although I confess I didn't pay that close attention to the exact font. Here's a pic:



Unfortunately, as you can tell, the type got a bit more stretched out than I wanted. But it only cost me 23 bucks to have made, so I can just order a new one later. And it still looks pretty close to the screengrab I think. (This pic was taken before I put on the hinges)

As for the badge, I did read through the thread about all the different versions, but haven't really decided on one to use yet. I know the Hartnell one was very, very basic, but I think I might end up going for one a tiny bit more detailed. Not sure yet.

DoctorWho8-- Thanks for the cool pics! And yeah, I'm aware about the center dividers on the sides. The problem is I knew I was going to be taking this box apart and moving the walls around a lot throughout this, and didn't want that extended divider piece at the top to break off along the way. But once I put the whole thing back together one last time, I'll make sure to include it.

[galacticprobe]

This is a great build! The Hartnell TARDIS is my favorite (as you can probably tell by my avatar, which is courtesy of geminitimelord - she's his TARDIS!). Where did you find that "chunky lock"? I've never seen one that comes even close to that, which looks almost exactly like the one in the grab you posted.

Dino.

[NotaMountainGoat]

Hey thanks. It was just made from the ring that already came with the lock, and a piece of black plastic pipe that I cut down. Thankfully the metal tab thingy was still long enough to stretch all the way back.

And btw here it is with my (very) imperfect aluminum tape solution. It's not the greatest, but should at least look somewhat believable from a distance. And yeah I know it's not an official Yale lock.  

Shiny!

[Volpone]

I did a TARDIS based on the Hartnell box, although I diverged in a number of ways.  And I did the build before I'd spent a lot of time here so I didn't know as much about the foibles of the Brachaki build.  Ironically I very nearly bought the "right" lock.  Pretty much any standard door deadbolt has a pronounced face instead of being flush with the door.  (http://www.homedepot.com/s/deadbolt?NCNI-5)  I got mine home and realized it was going to stick way out so I took it back and found one that mounted flush to the door. 

[DoctorWho8]

I made that door sign!  When Scott (aka Madman Withabox) was in the process of redoing his Hartnell, he asked me remake the door and top signs.  Do you need the top signs too?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[NotaMountainGoat]

Yeah I've seen your build in the gallery, volpone, and it looks fantastic! I would have dearly loved to have put mine outdoors as well (and have enough space in my backyard for it), but the box is ultimately so dang tall that everyone in my neighborhood would have been able to see it, and I just didn't want to attract that much attention.

And that was your PDF DoctorWho8? Cool, well hope you don't mind me using it.    And I already downloaded the PDF for the top signs, but haven't gotten around to making them yet (or having them made).